


Like all the Best Families (We have our Share of Eccentricities)

by BasicallyAnIdiot



Series: Family Dinner Night [3]
Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: ANBU versus Hospitals, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Gen, Haruno Kagami (OC), What is this plot you speak of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-06-15 02:50:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15403314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BasicallyAnIdiot/pseuds/BasicallyAnIdiot
Summary: The cancellation of the third dinner was totally not Kagami’s fault.Even if had been mostly because of her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Annnnnnnnd we're back! 
> 
> Big thank you to everyone for kudo-ing or commenting on this series as we've come along. Some great points came up in the comments, so Kakashi makes his long awaited appearance and we have a little more interaction between Kagami and the adults this chapter. Special shout-out to WildflowerWoods for helping me with this. 
> 
> (For those looking for more adult to adult interactions in this AU, the next chapter is from Sakura's side of the matter.)

**Like all the Best Families (We have our Share of Eccentricities)**

The cancellation of the third dinner was totally not Kagami’s fault.

Even if had been mostly because of her.

“Ow.” She said half-heartedly as her mother checked the burns that cover a better part of her torso, arms and legs. Morphine always made her feel weird, all dopey and sleepy, so it was hard to tell what exactly Sakura was doing but Kagami felt that she should give some acknowledgement. She was probably one of the luckier ones- her mother had beaten the aversion to medical assistance out of her when she was young. When most drugged shinobi woke up, they tended to freak out and destroy things- Kagami was taught better. The others probably had to suffer without the pain killers.

Sakura tutted and shook her head. Her pink locks swaying with the effort- her mother was growing her hair long again and at the moment it looked like floating strands of cotton candy. “I’m not even touching you.” She crossed her arms over her white lab coat as if to prove it.

Kagami blinked slowly, not quite feeling the motion, or anything else for that matter. “Oh.” Thoughts jumbled together. How long had she been awake? “Whatabout Yuudai-kun?” The idiot had been standing right beside an explosion tag and she wasn’t going to be fast enough-

“Inuzuka-san and the rest of your team is fine, Kagami, and should make a full recovery-” Sakura paused, and something other than exhaustion flickered in her eyes. Her smile turned sly, “Yuudai- _kun_ , eh?”

Something was blaring in the back of Kagami’s mind, a warning maybe but not like when she was on a mission or anything, she couldn’t fully place it though. Time to exit stage bed.

The doziness she felt wasn’t faked as Kagami closed her eyes and mumbled what might have been, “Stupid dog-boy.”

Kagami vaguely heard her mother chuckle softly, “I’m glad you made it home.” She wanted to respond. It was nice to be home in Konoha and maybe they could convince dad to make dango- but sleep got her first.

 

~*~*~*~

 

“... and then if they can’t get the infection under control there’s sepsis to worry about!” Yuuto announced from the rickety plastic chair. Kagami’s chart was in his hands and the nurse’s chicken scratch was clearly making sense to him and he beamed at her expectantly.

Kagami swallowed once, then twice, glanced at her father for guidance but was met with an expression of mild interest. Of course he found it interesting. “Right. Burns are bad.”

“No, nee-chan~ Burns are like the worst!” Yuuto’s hands were moving with his excitement now, short pink hair bouncing with the effort, and Kagami regretted doing anything nice for her brother _ever_ . “And sepsis is one of the the worst outcomes of an infection often caused by bacteria like _Staphylococcus aureus_ or _Escherichia coli._ ”

Funny how her mother never mentioned- Wait. She knew that last one. “Don’t you mean E. coli?”

“He does.” Her father added with a hint of a laugh. “I think what Yuuto-kun is getting at is that you should listen to your mother and the nurses.”

“What? No I’m not, tou-san.” Yuuto crossed his arms in a gesture she had seen a thousand times before from her mother, flexing non-existent arm muscles and all. “The human body is amazing and sepsis is like a huge overreaction to an infection! The immune system starts fighting the body, leading to stuff like organ failure, tissue damage, and death.” He paused. “You are definitely going to scar.”

Kagami was going to hog-tie Yuuto to a training post and leaving him there the moment she was given the all clear. She couldn’t physically stop her brother at the moment, that would bring her mother down on her room faster than lightning, but there were other ways to deal with him. “You know, Yuuto. I think I saw Midori-san on shift. If you find her, she might let you help on her rounds.”

Yuuto brightened and turned to Itachi, who nodded once. “Sweet!” With a hop, Yuuto was off his chair and all but running out the door, “Feel better soon, nee-chan!”

As the door latched closed behind him Kagami muttered, “I feel better already.” She sighed and gently let herself lean back against the pillow.

Her father chuckled. His chuckles were always a quiet affair, easily missed if you weren’t paying attention. “He is... trying.”

“I think you mean that his enthusiasm is exhausting.” Kagami clarified.

Another chuckle and a faint smile, somewhat crooked. Her mother once told her that her father forgot to smile at one time, and it took years to find it again. Considering her mother’s smiles could outshine the sun, or be very convincing fakes, Kagami wasn’t sure which was her preference.

Itachi’s smile faded, and his ebony gaze turned focused. Always intimidating, even when sitting in a plastic chair pretending to be non-threatening. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“There isn’t much to tell.” Well, there wasn’t much she could tell her family. Not until the Hokage had been briefed. “We were on the return. An enemy shinobi engaged.” A suspiciously powerful enemy shinobi capable of causing an ANBU team, even one on the tail end of a mission, trouble was something that T&I would definitely want to know about. “There was an chain explosion tag rigged. I saw it. Yuudai couldn’t. I got him out of the way. The explosion knocked me out.”

“Hmm.” Was all her father said.

Kagami frowned, thinking about it. “I don’t even remember if we neutralized the enemy.”

Itachi tipped his head, “What do you plan to do about it?”

Good question. She bit her lip, immediately regretted it as it tugged on the burned skin of her neck, thinking about it. “The short of it? I need to train. Expand my ninjutsu and taijutsu. Maybe learn how to channel natural chakra if ka-san will teach me.”

Another, “Hmm.” Then, “I think we should start our lessons together again.”

“You told me we couldn’t when we were in Konoha!” She gaped at him, because that had been one of the most upsetting conversations they had while moving. Right after her father explaining exactly why he had to be careful in Konoha. “Because people would get scared.”

“Your life matters more than their fear.” Her father replied without hesitation and pulled out a thick scroll from under his chair- when had he brought that in?- and carefully set it on her bed.

She stared at it. Kagami noted the fine detail work of the edging, the silver tassel latch, and prominent red and white Uchiha Fan set in silver on the clasp. It was as long as her arm, and twice as thick. Something she had only read about. “Is that…?”

Itachi met her gaze squarely. “Crows.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

The next time Kagami woke up, the whole being in the hospital thing had lost its lustre. Aside from that time she let Yuuto try acupuncture on her and he accidently hit her spine (he had been five, slipped, missed her side entirely and, damnit, she had just been trying to be a good sister) she had been fortunate enough to never be injured enough for her mother to send her to the hospital.

Sakura often chose to treat her children’s medical matters at home. A wise decision given that few medical facilities in the average city could meet her mother’s standards of care, let alone the ones available in the backwaters her family had travelled. Kagami had heard all the rants when her mother returned from her consultations with the medical facilities’ directors.

A week into her current stay, staring at the ceiling for most of it, Kagami figured it was time for an escape plan. She wasn’t getting that far with it. Her mother ran a tight ship with all the nurses trained on how to handle escape artists. Her burns dramatically cut down on her mobility. What Kagami needed was outside support.

She wasn’t getting much.

“Can’t you get ka-san to let me go home?” Kagami asked, setting her hands down on her lap. The burns had healed enough that she didn’t pass out when she moved.

Naruto just smiled all bright and blinding and, “Not a chance in hell!” he said cheerfully as he leaned back in the plastic chair and set a pair of cards down on her bed. She couldn’t sense his guards anywhere- though she was sure they were hiding somewhere around the hospital.

Kagami sighed and glanced at the ANBU commander of Konoha, the second most powerful shinobi in Konoha at the moment, sitting in an equally uncomfortable chair by her feet. “Commander?”

Hatake Kakashi’s eyes crinkled above his mask, “Go fish.” He glanced at the cards in his hand, “Naruto, do you have any 5’s?”

“Cheater.” The current Hokage groused, handing a card over.

“My own student and successor, slandering my good name. I’m offended.” Hatake Kakashi, Rokudaime Hokage, ANBU Commander, _sniffled._

“Oh, be offended!” The Nanadaime Hokage snorted, unrepentant. “Do you have any 8’s, Kagami?”

Kagami twitched, and picked up her hand, “Go fish, Hokage-sama.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Convincing her teammate that escape was their only option was easy. Though Kagami managed to tackle Yuudai out of the blunt of the blast he hadn’t escaped all damage. Impressively, his own chakra exhaustion mixed with a lovely combo of injuries had him stuck under his doctor’s thumb almost as long as Kagami was expected to be. He was, if possible, further up the wall than Kagami and all but leapt at the chance to get out.

Actually escaping was another matter.

She, in her painkiller induced haze, forgot that Yuudai, like any true Inuzuka, came from a matriarchal clan and turned into a coward when faced with an Alpha Female.

Her mother, as it turned out, was one such woman.

In Yuudai’s defence, Haruno Sakura’s polite smile was hardly anything friendly. Particularly when it appeared on her face after rounding a corner and seeing two injured patients shuffling towards the general direction of the door. The original plan was out when they learned the Hokage had been bullied into putting seals over Every. Single. Window.

The Inuzuka lost all colour in his tanned face when the hospital director found them hobbling down the hall. For a moment Kagami was the one supporting his weight, with Kazemaru- a giant beast of a dog, supporting her.

She didn’t have time to gasp or grunt under the sudden strain before her mother’s seafoam eyes focused on her. Kagami could have been wrong, but she could have sworn she felt the shinigami’s hand on her shoulder as her mother kept that same polite smile on her face and said, without tone, “I could have swore that I told you to stay in bed, Kagami.”

That was it. She was doomed. Just cart her off to the morgue now and save everyone the trouble of doing it later. “Yes, Ka-san.” If it came out higher than Kagami intended, it was the pain, okay?

With a nod, Sakura glanced at Yuudai and added, “Inuzuka-kun. I _know_ I told you no heavy lifting for at least two weeks.”

Yuudai- Jounin, part time ANBU tracker who once faced off against a nuke-nin wearing only his pants and won- _flinched._ “Yes, Haruno-sama. We, er, we were just-”

As if Kagami was going to leave her teammate stumbling around in front of her mother, “We were getting stir-crazy, Ka-san.” She added a sheepish tone to her voice and prayed to whatever gods were listening her mother would buy it. “A little walk couldn’t hurt?”

Sakura’s eyes narrowed, and Yuudai’s weight fell on Kagami again though she stopped the pained gasp from escaping. Her smile felt strained. Finally, her mother tsked, “The only one between you three capable of walking around right now is Kazemaru.” Her arms crossed and lean arms Kagami had seen level buildings flexed ever-so slightly. “Go back to your rooms. I’ll send a nurse by shortly to check in.”

The trip back to her room was the fastest hobble they managed the entire escape attempt. Once they made it, Kagami crawled back into her bed, expertly replacing her morphine drip. Yuudai, still pale, contrasting sharply against his markings, leaned against the door as if it would stop someone from entering the room. He blinked a couple of times, all the fight gone out of him,  and commented, “I think I saw my life flash before my eyes.”

Kazemaru, almost as tall at the hanches as Kagami’s rib cage, whined his agreement and tried to hide under her bed. Unsuccessfully. His two hind legs stuck out with his tail and the bump in the mattress at her feet wouldn’t fool anyone.

Kagami shivered at the memory, “You probably did.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Her salvation came from the most unlikely of places.

Or at least, people.

“Your hair!“ Sarada gasped when she stepped into the room, almost dropping the bouquet of flowers she had brought. Daisies and daffodils, happy, bright yellows.   

“Thank you.” Kagami replied, dry as bone. “I hadn’t noticed.” Her long black hair hadn’t stood chance against the explosion apparently- it was a mismatch of lengths and charred ends.

Sarada shifted uncomfortably on her feet, clenching the bouquet of flowers tight enough in her grip that the paper wrinkled. “Would- would you like me to trim it?”

Kagami considered the request. “Yes. That would be very helpful.”  She shuffled forward just enough to turn around on her bed, facing the wall behind her headboard. Sarada hopped up on the bed and carefully used a kunai to trim the burnt strands away. An exercise in trust.

“You have a lot of bandaids.” Her cousin noted quietly.

It was probably the first time Sarada had been face to face with an outcome of their lifestyle. In the brief time she had known him, Kagami doubted her uncle would show a weakness like a wound at home. “I was hurt pretty bad.” She answered mildly.

“Ka-san said that you did it for a teammate.” Sarada said, hands moving steadily and mindful of the wounds on Kagami’s back. Careful in a way Yuuto hadn’t learned yet for all his dreams of surpassing Sakura. Kagami figured that even if she had more than one cousin, Sarada would still be her favourite.

“Yes. And I’d do it again.” Kagami sighed, “Though he was unable to get me out of here.”

Her cousin was quiet and smart. “He met Sakura-oba didn’t he?”

The simple comment was enough to slump Kagami’s shoulders, pain inducing and all. “Yeah.” She sighed. “I just want to leave.”

“All done.” Sarada slid off the bed, kunai and small plastic bag full of burnt hair. “You know. I think I could get you out.”

Kagami ran a hand through her shortened locks. The back of her neck was exposed for the first time in years and she halfhearted considered the merits of a scarf until her hair grew back.  Not likely. It was a choke hazard if she had ever heard of one. Her fingers didn’t catch on anything, so her cousin must have been thorough.

She shuffled around to lean back against her pillow. In the lapse, Kagami asked “Can you do it and make sure ka-san can’t find me afterwards?”

Sarada tilted her head, silent before nodding exactly once. “Yes. I think so.” Her brows furrowed together in consideration. “How’s your genjutsu?”

Kagami arched one brow and felt the smile come to her face.

 

~*~*~*~

 

“You know,” Kagami began from where she leaned heavily on her little cousin’s shoulder, “when you said you knew a place to hide, I didn’t think it was going to be so… obvious.”

It was a cute, little house on the edge of some woods. Built in the traditional manner like the Hyuuga compound. Probably privately owned, otherwise it would have been developed with the rest of Konoha. A clan then?

The garden was full of flowers, immaculate and in full bloom, with extra wide paved paths all around it. A sizeable pond full of water lilies and cattails decorated the eastern edge and easily visible from the porch Sarada was leading them to. Kagami watched a tortoise pop its head out of the water and duck back down.

Sarada shrugged, supporting Kagami’s weight as the elder cousin slumped a little. “He is a friend of tou-san and said I could come here when I wanted to, even if he wasn’t. His partner is one of my teachers at the Academy.” It was hard to picture her uncle with friends. If the stories her mother told her had any truth to them, even his teammates wanted to kill him every now and then. Frequently even.

Kagami kept her breathing controlled, though her heart was pounding with the simple exertion.  Getting back into shape was going to be a pain when she was discharged. They shuffled towards the sheltered porch, a ramp on either side was a more modern design that artfully matched the yard and house, and Sarada gently lowered her to the wooden edge. “I’ll go see if I can find some water.”

Like she came there all the time with escaped hospital patients, Sarada stepped out of her sandals, slid the door open, and disappeared inside. Leaving Kagami alone watching the pond ripple in the wind and the leaves dancing in the trees. A bird song carried through the breeze, the tortoise reemerged in the water, and for the first time in weeks, she could relax. The pain was still there, just… quieter.

As such, Kagami was entirely unprepared for the joyful shout that echoed from the house behind her, “Sarada-chan!”

In her start, she half leapt from the porch and the sudden movement jarred her burns so badly she saw stars for a second. She managed to catch the last bit though, “... warms the soul when you visit.”

What Sarada replied with Kagami didn’t know, but by the time she had resettled on the porch the door was opening again for a man with a bowl cut hairstyle to emerge in a wheelchair.

She had heard of Maito Gai, the best taijutsu master Konoha had ever seen- likely ever would see- with his physical strength matched only by his strength of character, and of a war injury than not even her mother could heal. Meeting him in person was another matter. The green jumpsuit hadn’t been exergration then.

He wheeled himself forward and his grin was, somehow, even brighter than the Hokage’s. Sarada stepped out from behind him, and with a smile added, “Gai-sensei, please meet my cousin, Haruno Kagami.”

Kagami blinked, “Hi?”

That didn’t deter Gai one bit. “Hello Kagami-chan! Sarada has regaled me with tales of your trainings together- your spirit of youth burns bright!” Then he gave her the biggest thumbs-up in the history of thumbs-up.

She blinked again. “Thank you?” Kagami shook her head. “I’m sorry for intruding. May I stay here for a little bit?”

“But of course! Kakashi also finds it much more restful to stay at home than in the hospital.” He wheeled himself around, almost popping a wheelie with the speed,  and headed back into the house. “I’ll get you all something to eat!”

Kagami turned to her little cousin when the dust of Gai’s departure settled. “What.”

Sarada smiled. Like brightly. In a way Kagami had never seen her cousin smile before. Not at training. Not at those ridiculous family dinners Team 7 insisted on having and subjecting their families to. Like… she was genuinely happy. Then her little cousin shrugged, set two glasses of water down on the deck, sat down beside Kagami and started swinging her bare feet back and forth.

“So,” Kagami started in the silence, watching a dragonfly dart about the pond. “I take it you come here often?”

Her cousin nodded slowly, smile fading as her legs slowed. “Tou-san is always away, and Ka-san is so…”

A leaf fell to the lake, landing on the shell of the tortoise swimming around. “Family,” Kagami began slowly, as if testing each word, “can be painful.”

It earned a snort from Sarada.

Alright. Kagami could do better than that. She _knew_ she could better than that. “Your family is bigger than just you and your parents. So you don’t have the best relationship with your parents. You still have me and Yuuto, and ka-san and tou-san.”

“But… “ Sarada frowned, “I don’t even know them.”

That was… a very fair point. Aside from Kagami- who couldn’t shake her cousin unless she put significant effort into it- she never saw Sarada with anyone on her side of the family.

...Expect at those dinners hosted by the Hokage.

Those explosive, ridiculous dinners that had thus far ended in property damage.   

Oh sages above- really? Was she really going have to say it? It was probably too late to head back to the hospital. Kagami sighed, “Then we just need to have more family dinners together.”

The look her cousin shot her was normally reserved for people with two heads. “You hate those dinners.” Sarada said incredulously.

“I do not.” Kagami shot back.

The young Uchiha was staring at her with an expression not unlike a gaping fish. “You took a month long mission out of Konoha when you heard about the next one.”

Kagami had done that. It had been a long and frozen month in Frost Country. Then she was punished with third degree burns and her longest stay in the hospital yet on the way back. She squinted at her cousin, “How do you know that?”

Her cousin blushed, “I asked Hokage-sama.” Sarada’s little crush on their military leader was kind of cute. From a distance. Thank the Sage, she’d probably grow out of it.

“Ah.” There wasn’t much more Kagami wanted to add to the conversation. Neither could Sarada. They left the silence alone.

The wind was pleasantly cool and the warmth of the day was like a comfy blanket. Kagami leaned against one of the pillars supporting the roof of the porch and fell asleep.

 

~*~*~*~

 

The hand reaching out to touch her shoulder was in a vicelock she had learned from her Captain before Kagami’s first coherent thought had formed. She was halfway to stabbing the person intruding on her space when a slim hand reached out and flicked her forehead lovingly.

Kagami blinked and looked up at her mother, who thankfully was bemused if her smile was anything to go by. The younger Haruno blinked again, letting her Sharingan go, and very intelligently asked, “Huh?”

“You missed your check-up.” Sakura said softly, mussing her daughter’s hair while she was at it. “If you stay still, I’ll do it now.”

Kagami blinked again, yawning. “M’kay.” The cool healing chakra was a bit of a shock, and more awake than she had been, Kagami took stock of the situation. Sarada was nowhere in sight, neither were the glasses of water. The sun was beginning to dip behind the Hokage Monument. At least four hours sleep- confirmed by the kink in her neck.

It wasn’t the weirdest position she’d ever fallen asleep in- flat surfaces that were safe to rest on were in short supply on some missions- but she wasn’t about to mention that to her mother. She was almost asleep again, cool chakra healing and soothing her burns, when her mother said, “That was an impressive genjutsu you put on your room.”

Considering her abilities, the illusion had been slapdash but under the constraints of trying to do it without any obvious chakra flare it was… substantial. The genjutsu was simply that she was still in her room. Sleeping.

On top of that, she put another a genjutsu that made the nurses think that they had already checked her in the last hour whenever they entered the room and didn’t have to do it at that moment. She even included her morphine drip on it.

Then, just to be confident, she made sure that, unless the nurses were specifically looking for her room, they would past right by it.

Three-fold illusions could be a pain to do even on a good day, though Sarada had been suitably impressed. To notice the illusion, let alone break would have taken… her dad. Who would have visited her like he had every day. Like the good parent he was. Kagami winced at the imagined conversation. “You’re not mad?”

Sakura arched one pink eyebrow, her chakra receding. “I wouldn’t say that- you are definitely grounded for a month when you get out. I’ve already spoken to Naruto about it. Gate duty.” It was the threat all members of the corps was given when they landed in the hospital. Not that Kagami actually thought it was a live one. She’d have to pay more attention to the unfamiliar faces at the gate. Sakura continued with a grin that wasn’t friendly, “And if it happens again, you will be assigned to the Academy as an instructor. Permanently.”

Well, on a scale of one to ten that would be a fate worse than death. Definitely a live threat. Kagami scowled softly before sighing, shifting to stand up, when her mother’s firm hand kept her sitting down. “Ka-san?”

Her mother smiled- a real one this time- and sat down beside her. “There’s no rush to go. The hospital will still be there and Gai-sensei has very kindly offered to host supper.”

“Us?” Kagami asked, leaning her shoulder against the pillar again.

“Your father is already helping in the kitchen with Gai and Karin, and Sarada managed to convince your brother to leave you alone.” Sakura laughed, “You should thank her later. Yuuto-kun was definitely going to try bleaching your hair.”

“I’d have gutted him if he tried.” Kagami muttered, yawning. Or hide all of his textbooks.

“No murdering your brother.” Her mother said, half-serious.

Kagami made no promises.

The sun had finally set, the soft purples and oranges in the sky fading into black ink. The only light in the yard was the light from the house illuminating their figures from behind. Kagami glanced behind her when another shadow joined them on the deck.

Her aunt padded barefoot beside them, looking far more relaxed than Kagami had ever seen her before. “Supper’s ready.” Karin said softly with a smile. Sakura stood up, a hand out to support Kagami. Together, they made it into the house amongst the shouts of a challenge to mochi-making and Yuuto’s exuberant description of something medical.

 

~*~*~*~

Omake

 

It was hard to say who was more surprised when the door opened to the dining room- everyone in the room, or the silver haired man wearing the white cloak of an ANBU commander.

Silence descended.

Kakashi took in the sight of Itachi shuffling a deck of cards at the table, with Sakura and Karin clearly in the middle of a card game. In the kitchen, Sarada and Yuuto were having a less than discrete fight and almost every surface was covered in water. Kagami sat on a stool a careful distance away from the younger duo, drying dishes slowly.

The Rokudaime Hokage blinked slowly then turned to Gai, sitting beside Karin and grinning brightly. “What.”

The Academy teacher grinned. “Welcome back, my eternal rival! We have guests!”

“I see.” Kakashi managed finally. “Why do we have guests?”

“Because, Kaka-sensei-” Sakura cut in, glaring softly at her husband over her cards. “Itachi is a dirty, dirty cheat and we need you to out-cheat him.” Karin gave a decisive nod in agreement with her sister-in-law and grumbled something unflattering under her breath about Uchiha men.

Kakashi twitched, deposited his cloak by the door and sat down beside his former student. Half-heartedly, he asked, “Why do my students always accuse me of cheating?”

Sakura smiled, bright and sunny. Her husband shifted uncomfortably under its gaze. Smart man. “Because you’re the best one of us at it.”

Across the table, Gai got a fire in his eye and he announced, “I will out-cheat you, Kakashi! And if I lose I will do ten laps around Konoha with my students!”

In the kitchen, Sarada visibly paled but didn’t let Yuuto out of the headlock as he struggled for a grip. Kagami made no move to help her brother. 

“Well,” Kakashi sighed, picking up a hand of cards and eyeing his table of opponents, and drily added, “The fate of the world again rests on my shoulders.”  


 


	2. A Mother's Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura awakens the day after Kagami's marathon surgery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this took forever. 
> 
> I rewrote it about three-four times. 
> 
> This one almost makes me happy.

**A Mother's Worry**

It was the sound of something frying that drew Sakura back to the world of the living. Mostly. She considered the smells. Fresh cooked rice, simmering miso, perhaps something already fried, wafted through the partially opened bedroom door. Delicious, but not enough to convince her tired body to leave the warmth of the futon. Rolling over, wrapping the comforter around her as she did, Sakura sighed in contentment before slipping her head back into the dark.

The kettle whistled distantly, some shuffling of plates and bowls. Nothing dramatic. Just sounds a home waking up for the day. Barefeet padding along the hall. Too big to be Yuuto. Itachi then.

The footsteps paused the door, a creak of the door opening, then continued. “Sakura.” Soft, gentle just for her. A warmth crawl its way through her body- better than the sleep-warmth she felt. He would want an acknowledgement before he stepped closer.

Sakura grunted. Her husband was pretty and wonderful and had likely made breakfast, but the bed was warm and dark and she wanted to _sleep_. She tucked herself into a smaller ball.

A chuckle, deep and rich. Then a more remorseful, “I’m sorry. I know you had a late night.”

“Stupid late,” She tried to clarify, but sleep and comforter muffled it. Sleep was still within her grasp.

“Stupid late.” A dip in the futon as Itachi sat on the edge. Body heat radiated from the man, his fire nature - common for Uchiha- and Sakura loved curling up against him in the winter. If she was feeling particularly cold, nothing warmed her up fast than sticking her frozen toes against the back of his legs. “You have a meeting with the Hokage this morning.”

She grunted again, keeping her eyes closed, “He’ll be late. Always is.”

“Wrong Hokage.” A hand brushed against the top of her head, smoothing any waylaid hairs. Intimate in a way reserved for private, quiet times. When people weren’t around to stare. “It is the Nanadaime who wants to speak to you.”

What the heck did Naruto want? Didn’t he know she just spent the better part of the night putting a Chunin team back together? Successfully, she might add. There was the Inuzuka from Kagami’s team that might need additional surgery even though Shizune had pulled him back from death’s door. She had to study for that. But at least, Sakura mused to herself, the team had come back. The thought had her rolling over to face her husband. She pulled the comforter down just enough to look at him.

Itachi sat loose limbed. Trying not to appear a threat. Part of a concerted effort to make people to forget, or at least overlook, his checkered past. Ebony hair, not yet facing the concern of grey, was neatly tied back. Uchiha genetics kept him youthful in face, but even those had only slowed the development of crow’s feet around his eyes. Bags were forming though. With the morning’s light against his back, he looked serene.

“Yesterday really happened, didn’t it?” Her voice wavered only a hair.

Her husband didn’t need any elaboration. He leaned over and kissed her forehead, brushing her hair back as he pulled back. “Yes.”

A sob caught in her throat, and, to her shame, tears welled in her eyes. She brought a hand to her mouth, covering it even as the words left, “Her heart stopped.”

“Yes.” Her husband’s expression never changed. “But you started it again.”

It was true. Sakura had to overcome the shock her daughter’s body had descended into to do it. The burns- She shook her head, and forced the tears back. “It almost wasn’t enough.”

A warm hand guided her head up for another kiss, and this time Itachi left his forehead against hers. “But it was.”

Her arms snaked out from the covers to hold him close. Letting his heat ground her. Her breathing calmed, steadying out. After long moments she coughed, “Who’s with her now?”

“Ino-san. I will be heading over with Yuuto shortly.”

Ino was good. Ino wouldn’t let anything happen to Kagami. Sakura inhaled and then exhaled. “I should get up.”

“In a moment.” Her husband leaned back, the quip of a smile to his face. “I have more news.”

Sakura stared at him. “What?”

“Yuuto was caught trying to break into the higher levels of the library yesterday. Umino-sensei let him off with a warning and a detention but if he gets caught again he will be suspended from the academy.”

“He got caught?” Sakura repeated. “That’s not like him.”

Itachi kept a perfectly bland expression on his face, “I theorize that he was the one that got caught so another could get away.”

Sakura’s eyebrows rose in surprise. A sly grin crept onto her face, “Do you mean our little boy has a crush on someone?”

“He’s too young to be thinking that way.” The oven beeped down the hallway, and Itachi extracted himself from her limbs. If she wanted to, Sakura could have easily pulled him back. She didn’t. The Uchiha paused at the door, and said over his shoulder, “But he might be… exploring the aspects of teamwork. Badly.”

“That’s not an answer.” Sakura teased, before sighing a little and sitting up. Her world felt a little more even-keeled. “But still, he should know better. We’ll have to discuss it with him later.”

“Hmm.” It wasn’t his usual tone. A hair different than normal even.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her husband and considered the matter. “You already know who it is.”

There- a twitch of a smirk as the Uchiha left the room. “Hmm.”

“Oi!” She swung herself out of bed, and jabbed on a pair of slippers. Her housecoat had disappeared- a likely tactic to slow her down- “You can’t just leave me hanging like that, Uchiha! Who is it? Is it Himawari-chan?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come find me on [ Tumblr!](https://basicallyanidiot.tumblr.com/)


End file.
